


Band-aid

by NerdyAdjacent



Series: More is More is the Most [4]
Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: 80's AU, Ambrollins friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kid!Fic, ambrolleigns friendship, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-20 17:04:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9501368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NerdyAdjacent/pseuds/NerdyAdjacent
Summary: Seth expected her to say he could stay, that Dean didn't have to leave. How could she let them take him away?





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [demonjeans](https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonjeans/gifts).



> This is part of the 80s AU "MORE IS MORE IS THE MOST" series Demonjeans has been working on. Go read the others.

It's hard watching someone you care about suffer, especially when there's nothing you can do about it. Seth remembers that day, etched into his memory every time he thinks back on his younger years with Dean. He'd like to say that his time with him as a Kid was all blanket forts, scary movies, and seeing who can get Roman's eyes to roll the hardest, and there were plenty of those times he could sit and look fondly back on. There's one, though, one memory that looms over the rest. It's the one that changed his thoughts on his adoptive brother. It's one that would carry through their lives, through all the heartache, ups and downs, love and loss. It's the one that finally made him _understand_ Dean. 

Seth would say that he remembered whispered conversations about Dean’s parents when they were huddled together in their bunk bed turned blanket fort, how they were mean, how he didn't like them, how he'd thought about all the things he could do to them and run away somewhere. At the time, Seth didn't understand just how bad it actually was. How could he? His parents were kind, loving, accepting of Dean and all his flaws even though he wasn't their child. He just couldn't wrap his mind around other parents not being like that. 

“It can't be that bad, Dean.” he had said. Looking back at it, he would have taken that back in a heartbeat.

He remembered Dean looking away, sad, clutching onto Seth's stuffed dinosaur like his life depended on it. But again, it still didn't hit that there was a problem because, in true Dean fashion, the conversation would shift to other topics and they'd forget about the heaviness for a while. In retrospect, that's probably exactly what Dean needed at the time. 

They were eleven when it happened. 

“That movie was amazing!” Dean was always so animated when talking about things he liked, bouncing up and down in the back seat of Seth and Romans mom's station wagon, Seth parked in the seat next to him with a huge smile as he watched his best friend's arms mimic cracking a whip. “That part when he swung off the statue with his whip! Oh man! And...and when he killed that nazi with the airplane propellor! I wanna be Indiana Jones when I grow up!”

Of course Seth joined in, Dean's excitement infectious to everyone in the car, including his big brother, Roman, who was smiling and laughing right along with them. “Yeah! It was so cool! How about that boulder at the beginning? I didn't think he was going to make it!”

When they pulled into the driveway, that's when things changed. A strange car was parked out front of their house, a beat up old Volkswagen bus with so much rust it was probably the only thing holding it together. He didn't really think about it until he looked at Dean to continue talking about the movie. That excitement had given way to wide eyed terror as he looked on at the two people now climbing out of the vehicle. The woman looked angry, ready to explode at any second, while the man behind her looked like he might just kill someone. They both had this manic look in their eyes. 

“Dean? Are you okay?” Seth asked him, naively not understanding. He'd never seen Dean like that, retreating into the leather of the backseat like he wanted nothing more than to be absorbed by it. He was always this outspoken, confident, albeit quirky kid who'd beat up anyone that looked at him or his friends the wrong way. This was different, this was abject horror dancing in his blue eyes, and It scared Seth.

“Stay here.” Seth's mom instructed, her voice more strained than he'd ever heard it. 

“What's going on?” Seth asked Roman. 

Roman looked at him, then at Dean, who had completely shut down by this point. “That's Dean's parents.” he whispered like if he said it any louder, Dean might break apart. 

He remembered watching his mom and dad approaching the couple calmly, though tense. He could tell something was very wrong by the way they pointed at the car, yelling and screaming something along the lines of “You're not his parents!”

When Seth looked back at Dean, he was mumbling to himself. “I don't wanna go...I don't wanna…”

Unsure what to do, Seth did try to comfort him, did try to put an arm over his shoulder as if to say it would all be alright. In his young brain, it would be alright. His parents would talk to Dean's parents and everything would go back to normal. 

He realized pretty quickly that that was not what was about to happen. Seths mom came around to the passenger side where Dean was sitting and opened the door. Seth will never forget how she looked at him, with wet eyes and a small, reassuring smile as she patted his knee. “Dean, you have to do home with your mom and dad.”

His voice was small when he answered her, barely a whisper. “That's not my home.”

“I know.” She said and rubbed his arm. “But I need you to be brave. Can you do that? Just until you can come back to us?”

Dean didn't cry. He didn't really do much of anything. It was like he was on autopilot when he nodded. She called him a good boy and helped him out of the car, telling Seth and Roman to stay put. Though he tried to follow, Roman got a hand on his arm. “Don’t, Seth.” he said.

Seth expected her to say he could stay, that Dean didn't have to leave. How could she let them take him away? How could she let his father grab him by the arm so hard he looked like he might have pulled it out of socket? How could she let his mother shove him into the side of the van before opening it? How could she let them drive away?

He remembered being so mad at her that night and staring at Dean's empty bunk like he might pop out of it any second. He wondered what he was doing right now. Was he okay? When would he be back? 

But Dean didn't show up for school the following week and Seth is more than worried. His mother had tried to explain it, but Seth wasn't really listening. He was too busy wondering when he'd ever see his best friend again. 

It was a few days later when Dean would show up, and not really where Seth would expect. It was raining that day, pouring buckets from the sky in heavy sheets. He'd just got home from school and went to his room to drop off his bag when he noticed the window open, cold air filling the room enough for him to shiver. He didn't remember leaving it like that, and the carpet was soaked just below the frame. He didn't hear the sniffling until he closed it. It was easy to follow the wet patches in the rug to the closet. 

He opened it slowly, not really sure what he'd find, and his stomach dropped the moment his eyes landed on Dean. He was soaked from head to toe, little rivulets of water dripping from his hair onto the jean clad fabric of his knees where he had them drawn up to his chest and his head resting on top of them. His shoulders were shaking as he rocked back and forth.

“Dean?” He said quietly, kneeling down to his level. 

“I-I couldn't stay there.” He said, barely loud enough for Seth to hear. “I can't go back.”

Seth scooted a little closer and that's when he saw the marks, some deep purple bruises on his arms disappearing up under his tee shirt, and the barely scabbed over burns littering his skin in random patterns to overlap them. When Dean looked up, Seth could actually feel his heart break in two. A bloody nose and more bruises under his left eye. 

“What happened?”

He wasn't really crying, but Seth could hear the way his voice broke when he answered. “They wouldn't let me leave, not even for school. Every time I...he'd hit me. Sometimes with his fists, sometimes with whatever he could get his hands on. Sometimes, he'd just hold me down and put his cigarette out wherever he could find bare skin.”

Seth sat down next to his friend and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, not really sure what else he could do but let Dean lean against him if that's what he needed. “I'm so sorry. If mom hadn't -”

“It wouldn't have mattered.” Dean interrupted, sniffing back a fresh set of tears like he couldn't bare to let Seth see him like this. “It's not your parents fault mine are terrible people.”

“How'd you even get here?”

Dean's shoulders shook as he sniffed a laugh. “I walked. Waited until they drank themselves stupid and ran. Came here. I don't have anywhere else to go, Seth.”

“Seth, mom wants to know what you want for a snack.” It was Roman, his heavy footsteps making their way into his room and stopping when he noticed the open closet door. “Seth?”

His face is a picture of confusion, shock, but once he gets a look at dean, he's right by their side. They didn't have to say anything, even at that young age nothing needed to be said. 

Seth and Roman's mom finds them a half hour later, huddled in the closet. She gently scoops Dean into her arms and hugs him close before leading him to the kitchen with Seth right at her heels. She sits him at one of the kitchen chairs and kneels down to his level, asking if they did anything else to him. At the time, Seth didn't understand the meaning in her voice, but Dean had shook his head and a relieved smile passes over her lips. 

“Seth.” She said to him. “Why don't you go get me the ointment and some bandaids?”

His eyes lit up. “We got new dinosaur ones, Dean! You'll love them!” 

He waits until he sees dean smile before bolting to get them. When he returns, Dean was being hugged by Seth's mom like he'd never seen her hug anyone and for a fleeting second, his eleven year old self felt a pang of jealousy. It didn't last. In his mind he knew that was something Dean never got, parental affection. 

For the next twenty minutes, Seth had helped his mother clean up Deans burns and using half the bandaids on every wound. Well, really he just handed her the bandages, but just being there with his best friend seemed to calm him down. Pretty soon, he and Seth were talking like they always had, laughing. 

The last one Seth's mom let him put on Dean. He made sure to pick the best one, the one with a brontosaurus that looked just like his doll, and put it on the back of Dean's hand. 

Back then, Seth didn't really understand the importance of what had happened or how it would shape their lives and friendship. All throughout the rest of their lives, if Dean was upset Seth would find him huddled in his closet. It didn't matter how old they were or where in the world they would find themselves, Dean would just appear there and Seth would sit next to him and be the silent comfort he needed.

And he made sure to _always_ have Dinosaur bandaids.

Just in case.


End file.
